1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a lever fitting-type connector in which a connector is fitted into a mating connector by pivotally moving a lever mounted on the connector.
2. Related Art
FIG. 6 shows a conventional lever fitting-type connector. This lever fitting-type connector comprises a male connector 1, a lever 2 pivotally mounted on the male connector 1, and a female connector 3 into which the male connector 1 is fitted.
The male connector 1 has a plurality of terminal receiving chambers 4 for respectively receiving terminals therein, which terminal receiving chambers 4 extend through the male connector 1 in an upward-downward direction. Disengagement prevention ribs 6 are respectively formed on and project laterally from opposite side surfaces 5 of the male connector 1 at one end thereof, and extend in a connector-fitting direction. A slot 7 is formed between each of the disengagement prevention ribs 6 and the corresponding side surface 5, the slots 7 extending in the connector-fitting direction. Bosses 8 are also formed on and project from the opposite side surfaces 5 of the male connector 1, respectively.
Each boss 8 is disposed generally centrally of the length of the male connector 1. The lever 2 is pivotally supported by these bosses 8.
The lever 2 includes a pair of right and left side walls 9, and an operating portion 10 interconnecting the right and left side walls 9. The right and left side walls 9 have rotation holes 11, respectively, in which the bosses 8 are inserted, respectively, so that the lever 2 can be pivotally moved about the bosses 8.
The operating portion 10 of the lever 2 interconnects the rear end portions of the right and left side walls 9, and this operating portion 10 is operated or pressed when fitting the connector. Front end portions of the right and left side walls 9 remote from the operating portion 10 serve as projected engagement portions 12, respectively. These projected engagement portions 12 are inserted respectively in the slots 7 in the male connector 1, and therefore will not be disengaged respectively from the disengagement prevention ribs 6, so that the lever 2 is prevented from being disengaged from the male connector 1.
The female connector 3 includes a hood portion 13 with an open top into which the male connector 1 is fitted. Engagement holes 15, in which the projected engagement portions 12 can be engaged, respectively, are formed in that surface 14 of the hood portion 13 which is to be opposed to the projected engagement portions 12. Elongate grooves 16 for respectively receiving the disengagement prevention ribs 6 of the male connector 1 are formed respectively in opposite side surfaces of the hood portion 13.
In this lever fitting-type connector, the lever 2 is mounted on the male connector 1, as shown in FIG. 6, and the male connector and the lever in this assembled condition are inserted into the hood portion 13, thus effecting the fitting operation. At this time, the disengagement prevention ribs 6 are inserted respectively into the elongate grooves 16, and by doing so, the gouging engagement between the connectors 1 and 3 can be prevented.
For fitting the connectors together, the projected engagement portions 12 of the lever 2, are passed respectively through the slots 7 in the male connector 1, and are engaged respectively in the engagement holes 15 in the hood portion 13, and in this engaged condition, the operating portion 10 is pressed. In this pressing operation, the operating portion 10 serves as a force-applying point, and the bosses 8 serve as an application point, and the projected engagement portions 12, engaged respectively in the engagement holes 15, serve as a supporting point. In this operation, the lever 2 is pivotally moved, and therefore the lever 2 and the male connector 1 are fitted in unison into the female connector 3.
However, the male connector 1, together with the lever 2, is fitted in the hood portion 13 of the female connector 3, and in this condition, when the operating portion 10 is pressed to pivotally move the lever 2 through an angle a as shown in FIG. 7, the distal ends of the projected engagement portions 12 are projected a distance D in the direction of the length of the male connector 1 in accordance with this pivotal movement. However, the distance D of projecting of the projected engagement portions 12 is small though the operating angle is large. Therefore, when the lever 2 is pivotally moved by pressing the operating portion 10, with the male connector 1 fitted in the hood portion 13 of the female connector 3 in a shallow manner, the distal end of each projected engagement portion 12 fails to be brought into engagement with an upper end 15A of the associated engagement hole 15 since the amount of projecting of the distal end of the projected engagement portion 12 is small, and as a result the projected engagement portion 12 is moved into a position (indicated in a dot-and-dash line in FIG. 7). At this time, there is a possibility that the operator judges that the fitting operation is completed although the male connector 1 is actually half fitted in the hood portion 13. Particularly, in order to secure a sufficient engagement amount of the projected engagement portions 12, the amount of operation of the lever 2 must be set to a value larger than that required for the fitting of the terminals. This has resulted in a problem that the lever-operating angle a is increased.